“If anyone in this country believes that local elections will be held, that’s a grand myth. Elections don’t exist – only the topic of elections exists, which has been deliberately planted by Georgian Dream,” stated Georgia’s former President Salome Zourabichvili.

In her view, Georgian Dream has achieved its goal with this topic – it has divided the opposition.

As Zourabichvili noted, “Neither a campaign for election participation, nor a boycott campaign suits us. We’re split on both sides, wasting enormous financial and human resources that should be going toward protest and instead are being spent on a boycott campaign whose meaning I struggle to understand.”

“We find ourselves in a kind of absurd theatre, where everyone is playing their part to such an extent that it devolves into insults, curses, and bullying. I’m genuinely convinced these elections won’t be held; this government won’t see the election myth through to the end. In the meantime, the opposition will be divided and the protest will be weakened. Our only strength is unity.

On the other hand, a boycott campaign is equally absurd, as there are no instances where such efforts have ultimately resulted in victory. Obviously, under today’s conditions, just as they’ll falsify elections if someone participates, they’ll also falsify a boycott – even more easily, because under conditions of fear, money, and threats, you can drive people to the polls. If this boycott is quantifiable, the regime can spin it as a victory. This is how boycotts end in a dictatorship.

I want to present you with a realistic plan that requires us to come to our senses. Our agenda is how to strengthen the protest that has brought us all to this point. This requires, first and foremost, that the Resistance Platform be strengthened and revitalised. We need to incorporate all the various formats and groups, each approaching from different angles and holding diverse opinions, into this platform. This platform must form a transitional government, because nobody likes a vacuum. Our society’s anxiety also stems from the fact that they can’t see – if not these people, then who? This is a constant question.

We’re obliged to answer this question, to show society, as well as foreign society, who will be there tomorrow when this ongoing process of dismantling ends with the regime’s end. The decision should be ours—ideally made by technical professionals rather than politicians—since this is essential to move beyond the current impasse. Third, what we need is a comprehensive action plan or program—specifically, an updated version of the Georgian Charter. While some aspects have evolved since its adoption, the core principles remain unchanged.

We also already have a document that reflects the necessary preconditions that must be achieved for new, free parliamentary elections, which will also follow the dismantling of this regime,” Salome Zourabichvili declared.